The overall purpose of this essay is to explain what tradegy means, illustrated with details from the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles. In your essay, explain how the play Oedipus the King and its main character, Oedipus, illustrate the requirements and definitions of tragedy and the tragic hero as explained by Aristotle. Refer to Aristotle's ideas on drama and tragedy. Explain some of the key ideas on what Aristotle says makes a strategy a tragedy. Consider questions such as what elements, according to Aristotle, a play should have to make it a true tragedy, what qualities the protagonist should have and why, and what emotions the fall of the tragic hero should inspire in the audience.
Apply those concepts and the ideas that are central to your understanding of the tragedy to the play Oedipus the King. Discuss the events that occur in the play and show to what extent these events correspond to Aristotle's concepts and elements of a tragedy such as recognition(Anagnorisis), reversal, foreshadowing, and final suffering as Aristotle intended them as well as what function these elements serve in the overall purpose of tragedy as Aristotle describes it.
Discuss also the character Oedipus. What kind of tragic flaw, or hamartia, does he exhibiting the play, and how does this flaw contribute to his tragic end? Use specific details from the play to support your ideas and include at least a couple of quotations from the text of the play to illustrate your ideas. Cite your quotations by indicating line numbers in parenthesis at the end of each quotation.
End the essay with your opinion on whether Aristotle's ideas of tragedy and the structure of Oedipus the King and the character of Oedipus are or are not necessary for a play or any story to be considered a tragedy and why the concept of tragedy should not be limited to the concepts explained by Raitsotole and illustrated by Oedipus or whether tragedy should have a broader scope.
Scoring
1. Your thesis on what you think is or is not necessary for a tragedy.
2. Application of Aristotle's concepts of tragedy to the plot and structure of the play.
3. Application of Aristotle's concepts of the tragic hero to the character and actions of Oedipus in the play.
4. Adequate use of supporting materials and quotations from the play.
5. Overall quality of writing, including organization of ideas, transitions between ideas, and frequency of errors.